Longing to make this Ayam Garo Rica for so long! Ayam Garo Rica (Manadonese Chili and Lime Basil Chicken). In the local dialect, Garo means stir fry and Rica means chili pepper.

All I had to do was being patience until my red long cayenne pepper grown more. Yes… I was yielding long red cayenne pepper, lemon basil and turmeric leaves from the pots before they get hit by the cold weather.

The long red cayenne pepper is very useful for Indonesian cooking. To the best of my knowledge, there are two variants of long cayenne pepper that we use in Indonesia. One is cabai merah keriting (curly red); the fruit has a smaller diameter compare to the other one, cabai merah besar (big red). The curly one is slimmer, dense and has a wavy shape. In term of taste, curly red cayenne pepper is more spicy than the big red ones. In this recipe, I used the curly type.

I was messaging Ellen back forward whom native to North Sulawesi and lives in England to get more knowledge about her Manadonese or Minahasan specialty food. This is what I quoted from one of her posting.

– Daun Werot
This leafy plant is quite unique, because most people know as an ornamental plant, croton varieties. But, the Minahasan uses for cooking croton varieties of plants. This leaf is added to reduce odour of beef, chicken, pork, and water buffalo.
Botanical name: Codiaeum variegatum
Other names:
* English: Garden croton

Woooo, what a long list for leaf seasonings. Let’s move on to the recipe.Ayam Garo Rica– Manadonese Chili and Lime Basil Chicken –recipe by Ikaray, modified by me

34 Comments

I am a fans of Manadonese foods … Perhaps because I love hot and spicy foods. But it seems chillis grown in Menado have a different level of spiciness (hotter) than any other places. This is according to one of my Manadonese friend, and I agree with her.

I am a fans of Manadonese foods … Perhaps because I love hot and spicy foods. But it seems chillis grown in Menado have a different level of spiciness (hotter) than any other places. This is according to one of my Manadonese friend, and I agree with her.

This is a fantastic dish. I love all the flavors you have here. If I cannot find calamansi, is it okay to substitute them with lime or lemon? I miss calamansi,it's just give a different kind of flavor in every dish. we use them a lot back in the Philippines. Lemongrass are always available in the markets here. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

@MaryMoh: I bet you do love it :)@Pigpiscorner: cayenne pepper is what Malaysian call for cabai merah@CemaraPhotography: Calamansi is jeruk kesturi or lemon cui, populer in North Sulawesi cooking and Chinese-Indonesian. I grew my own turmeric to get turmeric leaves. You may get the dried ones from Simpang Asia.@Magic of Spice: Thank you@Xiaolu: This recipe can be applied for fish, shrimp and other meat substitute@Cooking Galery: I hardly hear that Indonesians don't love this garo rica. :)@Cynthia: You made my day, girl! Thank you.@Torviewtoronto: indeed@Cook with Madin: yes! Absolutely, you can substitute with lime. I'd choose key lime thou. Lemon is ok, but it will change the taste.

This is a fantastic dish. I love all the flavors you have here. If I cannot find calamansi, is it okay to substitute them with lime or lemon? I miss calamansi,it's just give a different kind of flavor in every dish. we use them a lot back in the Philippines. Lemongrass are always available in the markets here. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

@CemaraPhotography: Calamansi is jeruk kesturi or lemon cui, populer in North Sulawesi cooking and Chinese-Indonesian. I grew my own turmeric to get turmeric leaves. You may get the dried ones from Simpang Asia.

@Magic of Spice: Thank you

@Xiaolu: This recipe can be applied for fish, shrimp and other meat substitute

I am also a fan of Manado food. Visited it last year and I love the rica, especially the one served with tomatoes and soya manis. Yum..yum..and in Manado, the rica is really spicy. I am a Malaysian and I find that very appetising. I am glad that I found your blog. Now I can start cooking Manado and even Bandung food. Do you have the recipe for Nasi Timbel that is a specialty of Bandung, served with various kind of spicy condiments (rica)?

I am also a fan of Manado food. Visited it last year and I love the rica, especially the one served with tomatoes and soya manis. Yum..yum..and in Manado, the rica is really spicy. I am a Malaysian and I find that very appetising. I am glad that I found your blog. Now I can start cooking Manado and even Bandung food. Do you have the recipe for Nasi Timbel that is a specialty of Bandung, served with various kind of spicy condiments (rica)?

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Indonesia Eats is written and photographed by Pepy Nasution; an Indonesian-born Winnipeg (Canada)-based food photographer.

A collection of Indonesian and Asian recipes with style, eye-catching photographs and personal stories about cooking Indonesian and being Indonesian away from home. Indonesia Eats is a memoir of her homeland.